Twilight And Shadow
by ADreamingSongbird
Summary: Dave is no hero. Jade is lost and far from home. Terezi is disgraced, exiled and embittered, and Rose waits in shadow as she mourns her own people. The stars grow ever darker, and as the shadowy threat on the horizon looms nearer, the world looks to the fated few, those touched by the Goddesses, for its last hope. TP AU. DaveJade. On hiatus until the author gets her life together.
1. Chapter 1: A Carefree Day

"Dave! Dave, wake up, you sleepyhead!"

Your name is Jade Harley, and you are currently standing outside your best friend's tree house, your hands on your hips as you squint up into the midmorning sunlight. What a sleepy boy he is! It's almost noon, and still no sign of him. Day off or not, he should get out of bed at _some _point!

"Dave!" you call again, stooping to pick up a pebble. Hefting it for a second, you aim and then fling it upwards with your trademark accuracy, giggling and clapping your hands when it smacks into the window like you intended. "Don't make me climb all five hundred of your ladders in there, you dork! You're going to be late for lunch!"

After a moment, the window opens and Dave's messy, messy head full of tousled white hair pokes out. "What," he groans. "It is not lunchtime."

You give him your best skeptical expression. "Are you sure about that?"

He looks past you, up at the sky, and then lets out a loud moan of complaint. "No."

"Get down here!" you laugh, and he rolls his eyes and nods.

"Coming, give me five," he says, retreating into the house again. You sit down on the ground to wait, humming and idly braiding long pieces of grass together into loose plaits as you enjoy the feeling of the sunlight on your back and the slight breeze against your face. It's a lovely day and you think it couldn't get much better than this—Dave's coming over to your and Grandpa's place for lunch, and then you two will go out for a little walk, maybe wander into the woods a little, and then spend some time by the Spirit's spring. It's not too far from the village, maybe twenty or thirty minutes at a quick walking pace, but it's beautiful and feels secluded enough to be special.

The door opens and Dave steps out, sliding down the ladder and landing to offer you his hand with a flourish. You try to stifle a laugh as you give him your hand and let him pull you to your feet, and then you reach up and run your hands through his hair to try to calm it as best as you can.

"One of these days," you tell him as he crosses his arms and ducks away, "I'm going to make the investment in a hairbrush for you."

"As soon as you find one that doesn't break when you try and drag it through yours, lemme know, 'kay?" he snarks back, grinning, and then he slings an arm around your shoulders as you both start to walk to the village proper at a nice, leisurely pace.

"I'm pretty sure you could use half of my old hairbrushes just fine," you tease, ruffling his hair and laughing when he ducks his head away again. "Your hair isn't anywhere as long or thick as mine, and it isn't kinda curly either!"

"Wavy," he says, the hand on your shoulder picking up a lock of your messy dark hair and fingering it. "The word you're looking for is 'wavy'."

"Oh, fine, wavy," you acquiesce, pretending that you don't feel a little fluttery warmth inside every time his fingers stroke through your hair. You are definitely not in love with your best friend, okay? Except for maybe a little. Or maybe a lottle. Okay, a lot. You're definitely in love with your best friend, happy? "Your hair is not _wavy_, then. It's just... fluffy!"

"Fluffy," he repeats, giving you a deadpan expression. "Thanks, Jade. That's what every guy longs to hear. Shit, my hair's fluffy. All the ladies just love fluffy hair."

You laugh at him, casually leaning in a little closer as you both cross the first of the several bridges over the stream that runs straight through the middle of the village. "I don't know about all of them, but _I _think fluffy hair is nice!"

Dave considers that for a moment, and then shrugs. "Fair enough. I guess wavy hair is pretty damn cute, too." He looks at you, and then adds, "On some people."

"True," you nod. "Some people can't pull it off, I guess, so they keep it short! I think I kind of can? But it gets annoying, usually. So it's always tied up anyway!"

"Oh my fucking god," he mutters, and you blink, a little confused, before he shakes his head. "Never mind. Nothing important. Anyway, what's for breakfast? I'm a growin' boy, you know. Gotta eat."

That sure was an abrupt change of topic. You shrug to yourself and decide to go with it—if there's something actually bothering him, he'll say so eventually, especially after you both get out of the village and it's just you and the woods. "Well," you giggle, "for _lunch _we've got some bread and cheese and baked meats, and I also made a pumpkin pie, if you want any of that!"

"Not a bad breakfast menu," he muses, guiding you up the walk to your house, and you bump his hip, laughing.

"Jade!" your grandfather's voice booms from inside as soon as your footsteps and your voices sound on the front porch, and a moment later he's out through the door and standing there, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses as he observes you both. "I see you've managed to get young David out of bed. A stunning feat, my dear, I must heartily congratulate you!"

"Whoa now," Dave smirks slightly, and you playfully elbow him in the ribs. "This isn't even my worst record, Mayor Gramps. Didn't I sleep in until... man, I don't even know. Late?"

"Four and a half hours past noon," you remind him pointedly. "And you would've kept going if I hadn't woken you up! I kind of wish I hadn't, actually. Maybe you'd still be sleeping in now, three months later!"

"I dunno, Harls," he shrugs slightly, dropping his arm from around you. You pretend that you don't miss its warmth in the slightest, instead choosing to look at him as he stands there next to you and grin as he adds, "I think you might've missed me after a while. That's why you got me out of bed, right?"

You laugh and tap your chin as if pondering the question. "Hm... did I actually _miss_ this dork, Grandpa?"

"How should I know?" your grizzled old gramps shrugs, amusement curving his lips into a grin. Your childhood has been full of laughter, really, and it shows around his eyes, too—the Mayor of Ordon Village can be stern, but he is kindhearted and loving and gentle. He's getting on in his years, but he has a lot of life left in him, you're sure! You aren't worried about him, not yet. "Although I sure do recall you were bored out of your little head!"

"I'm not _that _little!" you protest, but in vain, because he and Dave are both already laughing from their vantage points way, way above you, damn them both. You cross your arms, trying to keep yourself from succumbing to your own giggles long enough to turn your back on Dave and give Grandpa a pitiful pout—and—nope, and noooo Dave's arms are suddenly around your waist and now he's tickling you as you shriek with laughter and bat at his shoulders, twisting around in his grasp until he relents and you catch your breath, red-cheeked and giggling still.

Grandpa shakes his head and mutters something you don't quite catch—"sung love"? "young dove"?—under his breath before he turns around and walks back inside, calling over his shoulder that lunch is ready and waiting in the kitchen.

Dave looks down at the same time as you look up, and for a second you're struck by just how ... close ... you are to him... and now you're blushing even redder and you're more aware than ever of the fact that despite that he's no longer tickling you, his arms are still locked firmly around your waist. You're vaguely aware of biting your lip a little apprehensively, but then Grandpa calls out a "Well? Are you coming?" and the moment, whatever it was, is gone, and you and Dave all but spring apart as though burned.

"We're coming, we're coming!" you call back cheerfully, hoping that the color staining your cheeks is fading as you turn back to Dave with a bright smile and grab his hand, drawing him into the house.

You sit down for lunch at the round table in the kitchen, the small and informal one. It's near the window that has a lovely view of the lake, and the breeze coming in right now is lovely! Grandpa is already seated, and after he makes his plate Dave joins you too, and you dig in for a leisurely meal.

"So, Dave," Grandpa says conversationally. "Rusl tells me you'll be taking the sword to Castle Town tomorrow."

"You'll have to get up early," you tease, though you're a little sad that you can't go. You really want to go out and explore the world beyond Ordona! Especially Castle Town, you've always wanted to see Castle Town and what the people there are like. "Are you excited?"

Dave takes a bite of bread and cheese, considering the question before he answers. "Sure, I guess. I mean, I get to go see some princess and I get to wave around a sword, cool. I can just also think of other ways I'd rather spend tomorrow." He glances at you again, and Grandpa chuckles for some reason. You don't really see what's funny, so you disregard it and look at Dave incredulously.

"But you're not at all excited about getting to go off and see the rest of Hyrule?" you ask. "You get to go past Faron and up into Lanayru! I wish I could go there. I've always wondered what it's like to live in an actual big city like Castle Town..."

Dave shrugs once, then looks over at Grandpa. "Yo, Mayor Gramps, can I borrow Jade tomorrow?"

Grandpa raises a bushy eyebrow. "Well, I don't know. Jade, do you mind being borrowed for next week? If you say no, bear in mind I expect you to stay on schedule with all your lessons, understood?"

Your heart leaps to your throat and you're pretty sure your eyes are wide and shining. "Really? I can go?" you breathe, clasping your hands together under your chin in hopeful joy. This will be perfect! Not only will you be going on a trip with Dave, but also you will be going on a big trip all the way north to Castle Town and you're going to see all sorts of amazing things on your way there, you're just sure of it!

Grandpa chuckles at your enthusiasm and Dave cracks a little grin. "Yes, you may go," the Mayor says. "Keep yourself safe, and get enough rest. You'll have extra lessons when you get back, remember."

You don't even give a hoot about the lessons! "Ohmygosh!" you squeal ecstatically. "Thank you so much!" Oh, you'll have to pack and provision today, and not go too far on your walk so that you're not tired tomorrow, and—oh who cares right now! You're just super duper excited about this trip!

"Well," Dave says, "I think I just got a good bit more excited for tomorrow."

* * *

Your hand is clasped in Dave's as you walk along a fallen tree trunk, your other arm held out to balance you as you go. Above, the birds twitter merrily and the wind rustles in the treetops, this warm but not hot spring day going by in a beautiful haze. And oh boy are you still excited for tomorrow, or what! Tomorrow you're going to go wake Dave up at dawn and you're both going to ride out together and follow the northern road until you reach Lanayru Province, which is all the way past Faron—about two day's ride—and then you'll have to follow the western path, through Eldin, to go around the mountains so that you can reach Castle Town within the week and be home in two—

"Hey, look out—" Dave tries to warn you, just as you trip straight over a broken branch sticking out, wobbling and windmilling a bit comically as you try to right yourself before Dave just bodily scoops you up and sets you back on the ground next to him. Once again, he keeps holding you a good bit longer than he has to, looking down at you as though he's about to say something though you can't for the life of you imagine what, and once again you blush and drop your gaze.

"Thanks," you laugh sheepishly, looking back up at him. He blinks.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. No prob, it's what I do, right? Keep you safe?"

You laugh at that and nod. "Yup, that's you, my knight in shining armor!" And because you're feeling a little brave and a little reckless—maybe there's still adrenaline pumping through you from that near-fall—you place a hand on his shoulder and stand on the tips of your toes and press a little kiss to his cheek.

... Well, at least now you aren't the _only _one blushing!

Yeah, you're going to pretend that was totally normal, so you slip out of his grasp and link your fingers through his, something that comes a lot more naturally than kisses or anything like that because you've both grown used to holding hands since long before the age where that meant anything past innocent affection.

"Jade?" his voice comes to you and you turn slightly to look at him, tilting your head to the side in curiosity.

"Yeah?"

"I... eh, never mind," he shakes his head and flaps a hand at you dismissively. You guess this is probably the same thing that was bothering him earlier, before lunch, and for a second you're tempted to prod him to spill the beans, but you know that's not how Dave works. That's not how your friendship with him works, either. He doesn't like being prodded, and he'll talk when he's ready, not a second before! And you're okay with that, so long as whatever the thing he isn't talking about isn't something that'd hurt him. Which you're fairly sure it isn't, because you've made it clear to him in the past that you won't take it well if he tries to hide actually important things from you!

So while you're curious, you're not too worried. You'll let him take his time. After all, the two of you have your own grand old adventure that you get to start on tomorrow, just the two of you and it's going to be amazing and wonderful and god you just can't wait!

"Damn," Dave shakes his head, looking at you with mild amusement. "You really are excited, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?" you ask, bemused, and he lets out a snort.

"Jade," he says, as if he's explaining something that should be readily apparent, "you're literally bouncing in place."

"I am?" you blink, and then you realize you are, and so you laugh because that's just really funny! "Wow, okay, I am!"

"Why didn't your grandpa just send you in the first place, anyway?" Dave wonders aloud. "You're way more interested in going out and seeing the world and whatnot than I am."

You shrug, wrinkling your nose a bit wryly. "Honestly? If you wanna know what I think, it's probably because he's just worried about me growing up and leaving the nest, all of that. But he should know better! With all his grand talk and all those bedtime stories about adventures and stuff, he's the one who inspired me to want to get out and see the world, you know?"

"Yeah," Dave nods, looking at you with something you can't quite place—fondness, maybe. "I know."

"What do you think of it all?" you ask him. "Do you just want to come back here after this?" You think you honestly might want to move away from Ordona for a while. Not that you don't love it here—you do! Your heart definitely lies in these woods and the small village where you've grown up. But you just... you want something more! You want more people, more excitement, more action! More to do and more to see. More to _be_! You want something more out of your life than goat herding, you guess that's what you're trying to say.

He shrugs in response, swinging your joined hands as you keep walking, hopping over a little stream that runs down to the lake at the center of the village. "I dunno, honestly," he answers. "I guess it'd depend on what we do and what we see out there. And on what you want to do. I mean, I don't... hell, you're my best friend, Jade. I'll go wherever you wanna go, if it makes you happy."

You blink in surprise. Of all the answers he could've given, you aren't sure you were expecting that one! But it's not unwelcome in the slightest. No, not at all—quite the opposite, considering the bright smile you can tell that it brought to your face! "Well, you're _my _best friend, too! And I'm asking you, what'll make you happy?"

Another little shrug. "No idea. I don't want too much out of my life, honestly, and I mean, I'd be fine with staying here if that's what works out. But I guess—hold your horses, Harls, I already know what you're about to say, and I agree. I can't decide fully until I've seen all my options. So we should probably wait on this discussion until after we've gotten to Castle Town."

"I want to stay there for a while," you tell him a bit dreamily. "They have a huge academy on the study of magic and science, and I would love to go there..."

"Maybe you will," he says. "I bet if anyone could get in, it'd be you."

You beam and squeeze his hand tightly, feeling those little warm flutters in your chest again. "Thanks, Dave." You're about to comment further when the surrounding geography suddenly hits you and you realize you've both gone farther than you meant to, considering you're in south Faron Woods rather than northern Ordon. "Oops. We should probably head back home, shouldn't we?"

"Probably," Dave agrees, a little reluctantly. He looks around and then back at you. "Wanna stop at the spring and sit and chat with me for a bit on our way back?"

"Absolutely," you agree brightly, looking up at him with a little smile. "When did that become a question? Of course I want to sit and chat with you, silly!"

"Nah," comes the reply, "but maybe I just like hearing you say it."

* * *

_AN: Why am I starting another long fic? We just don't know._

_Anyway, oh boy oh boy am I excited to present the first chapter of a Twilight Princess AU! More characters will be introduced in subsequent chapters. This is going to be DaveJade-centric but worry not, there will be lots of friendships too! (I'm incapable of writing fic without friendships everywhere, hehe.) It's going to be loosely based on the game storyline, but will deviate and alter some stuff, too. In case it wasn't clear from time estimates, too, Hyrule is a bigger country than in-game. _

_Okay! This is going to be fun! Good luck with spring semester, everyone, and thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	2. Chapter 2: Walking In The Woods

Your name is Dave Strider, coolest of the cool kids, and you are currently walking through Faron Woods hand-in-hand with your best friend and also girl you're hopelessly in love with but she doesn't know that yet so shhhh.

"It's almost a pity," Jade sighs, stopping in the midst of a small clearing, dotted with flowers here and there, and looking around. You slow to a stop, too, and raise an eyebrow at her.

"What is?"

"That we have to go back now! It's so lovely here, too, and I think another hour would get us near the stream that comes from Faron's Spring, if I remember my geography right," she says, looking up at you with those big expressive and hella pretty green eyes of hers. "It isn't the same as seeing the actual spring, but it still would be neat, don't you think?"

Dammit. You can never say no to her, even when she hasn't technically asked you to do anything—or even when she isn't even fucking aware that she's asked you to do whatever. You look back towards Ordona and think about the lack of packing for tomorrow's trip that you've done, about the amount of rest you're gonna need, and about the fact that you've gotta get up super early, and then you look down at Jade and her bright eyes and bright smile, and you know just what you think of heading back just now.

"Well, I don't think we've gotta be back just yet," you shrug. "I mean, it's only a precaution. We can always go back a little late and hang out at the spring a little less, right? What does it matter, I'm hanging around with you either way." Technically hanging out at the spring would be easier on you both because a, you wouldn't be walking, and b, you wouldn't have a long way to walk back, too, but meh. What's the point of doing anything if you aren't going to look back on it in the morning and wonder what the fuck was wrong with your past self, right?

Jade contemplates this for barely a moment before she beams and nods, twirling around once and clasping her hands together with glee. It's cute as hell. "Okay then! A little longer can't hurt! Let's just keep exploring. Grandpa knows we'll be careful, and besides, nothing _bad _is over here. Maybe a few monkeys or something, but other than that, it's perfectly safe!"

She sounds like she's trying to reassure herself as much as she is you, but you won't call her out on that. She always likes to follow set plans and rules, you know that, so she's just talking herself into changing those plans, which is fine by you because hey, you get to walk around the woods with her and that's one of the best ways you can think of to spend your day. The only thing better would be walking around the woods with her, after sleeping in a little longer.

Oh, and getting her to figure out when you're trying to fucking flirt with her, that'd be sweet as hell too. But you'll take what you can get.

Honestly you're a little unsure of yourself here, too, unsure whether she seriously is that oblivious—not that you put that past her, because she can definitely be really oblivious—or whether she's just trying to tell you she's ... not interested, albeit in a kinda confusing and roundabout matter. You don't _think _it's the second one, because frankly that's not her style and you know it, but you doubt yourself so much that you can't help but be a little put off by this. But then she went and kissed your cheek earlier, so...

You figuratively throw your hands up in disgust. Romantic shit is confusing as _fuck_.

"Dave? Da-ave! Hellooo in there!" Jade waves her hand in front of your face and you blink in surprise as you're snapped out of your thoughts. She laughs.

"Huh?" you say intelligently, and she shakes her head at you, still laughing. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"Really now! I hadn't noticed!" she teases, reaching up to ruffle your hair again. Reflexively you duck slightly because you kind of always blush when she does that and god _dammit_ it's a pain pretending you aren't blushing when you're as pale as you are.

"Yeah, seriously," you say instead, coming to stand next to her and draping your arm around her shoulders. She hums contentedly and leans into your side, and you can't help but grin just a bit. "I don't think you had any idea at all. Damn, Harls, you gotta be more observant!"

Jade lets out a snort at that, looking up at you with raised eyebrows. "'Be more observant', coming from the boy who literally walked into the lake on accident because he didn't notice that he was standing next to a stone that would be super easy to trip over! Or because he didn't notice the lake there, that other time."

Wow, low blow. That was only one—okay, that was only two times! Only twice, ever, in your entire seventeen years of life! That's gotta count for something, even if Jade _is_ known as the girl with the best aim in the village. She might need thick glasses, but she has sharp eyes for motion and things that are out of place. Meanwhile, you sometimes trip over your own feet.

"Let's just forget that ever happened and talk about the time you lost your glasses in the pumpkin patch instead," you suggest as you both start walking again, heading a little deeper into the woods. "That was fucking hilarious."

"Oh no no no, we are _not _going down this road," she protests, poking you in the side and giggling when you flinch away. (Damn her for knowing where you're ticklish. _Damn her._)

"We are so going down this road," you taunt in reply. "'Oh, Dave, help, I can't find my glasses! Now I don't even know which shoe goes on which foot! I'm _blind_!'" you imitate, making your voice higher pitched and kinda squeaky, and are rewarded with a smack to the shoulder from your companion as you break off, laughing too hard to continue.

"Oh, shut up," she giggles, sliding her arm around your waist. "Jeez, you are such a dork!"

"No, I'm the coolest of the cool," you immediately contradict.

"Dorkiest of the dorks, I think you mean."

"Am not."

"You so are!"

"No I'm not."

"Dork!"

"Shorty!"

"Hey!" she exclaims, stopping and turning to frown up at you, one hand going to her hip. She isn't actually mad—even if you didn't already know that because you know her so well, you'd be able to tell because her other arm is still around you.

"I'd be worried you'd punch me, but I don't think you could reach," you shrug loftily, smirking down at her. What's she gonna do—wait wait no, no shit s_hit_

She tackles you with a peal of laughter, and you catch her (of course you catch her) and stumble back as her hands once again find their way to your sides and _fuck _you are so screwed why the hell are you this ticklish aw fuck!

You lose your balance, stumbling backwards until you trip and fall and Jade lands on top of you, both of you lying in the grass. She's still laughing as you give her your frowniest frown, and that seals the deal—you suddenly spring up and roll, using your own weight as momentum to switch your places so that she's the one lying on the ground pinned beneath you, leaves in her hair and in yours too probably.

"Oh no," she has time to say, right before you exact your revenge until you're both laughing too hard to breathe, and you let her sit up only to have her slump right back against you, still giggling.

"Well," you say sardonically as you loosely clasp your arms around her, "that was fun."

"Weren't we supposed to be _walking_?" she replies with a grin, raising her head to look up at you. Then one of her hands comes up, brushes your cheek, and gently dusts the leaves out of your hair. "Are you trying to be both fluffy _and _a leaf collector, Dave?"

You shrug, doing the same to her and wow her hair is soft. Kind of tangly and messy, but it's really soft. Huh. "Dunno. What do you think? Does it match my super cool persona, attract all the ladies?"

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "And you say you aren't a dork."

You let go of her and then get to your feet, Jade standing too. "I'm too cool for that. Wanna keep walking, or head back? Your choice."

"Um..." she looks around. "We didn't really go that far anyway. Maybe a few more minutes, and then we turn back?"

"Twenty more minutes then," you decide. "Which way are we supposed to be going again?"

"Dave," she groans. "Northeast! That's that way. What _would_ you do without me?"

"Huh... get lost, probably," you shrug unconcernedly as you start to walk northeast. "Good thing I'm taking you with me tomorrow then, right?"

"Oh my goddesses," she laughs. "The poor princess would be waiting on you for ages! They'd send someone to find out what happened and they'd find you walking in circles somewhere in Faron."

"What can I say," you shrug. "I have many talents. Map-reading is not one of them."

The look she gives you can only be described as one of fondness or affection as she squeezes your hand. "I know, Dave. Trust me, I know."

You shoot her the cockiest grin you can muster.

A few moments pass in silence as you both just keep walking, hand in hand and smiling ever so slightly. Jade watches the trees and the birds, a look of wonder on her face just like there is every single time you go out walking like this—she can never get enough of how beautiful the world around her is, she's told you before. The late afternoon sunlight filters down through the leaves above you, warm and golden like honey (or apple juice, hell yeah), and frames her in a shower of dappled green and gold that just makes her even more beautiful. Wait, weren't you supposed to be looking at the trees, not Jade? Oops. That sure is one fine-ass maple tree. Would be cooler if it had apples on it, though.

It's kinda nice, out here alone with Jade. She's been your best friend as long as you can remember—her and her grandfather are really the closest thing to family you've ever had. Mayor Gramps tells you that you were just left on the doorstep of a then-abandoned house one day, and no one actually came to claim you. Like, seriously, fuck your parents, right? You're pretty sure this is pretty high on the list of Things You Do Not Do With A Kid If You Want To Be Anything But A Shitty Parent. But whatever. Doesn't matter.

The forest is pretty peaceful. You sure are doing a whole lot of reflection here. But you do that a lot, you guess, especially during these little silences with Jade. That's one thing you really like about being with her—as talkative as both of you can be, when quiet moments do happen they aren't awkward, they're normal and they're nice. Huh, that tree looks kinda nice too. More climbable, at least.

"Have you started packing at all?" Jade asks, breaking the silence between you two. She keeps looking around, though, lightly stepping over a root, and even though she can only see you from her peripheral vision you shrug slightly.

"Not really."

"Why am I not surprised," she sighs, turning to look at you with that kind of exasperation that comes with fondness and a twinkle in her eye. Damn, that was a poetic statement.

"Because you have known me for like... sixteen years now?" you offer in response, and she laughs.

"That's probably got something to do with it." She links her arm through yours and then bumps your hip with hers, giggling. "I still can't believe I'm coming and we're actually leaving and going out there, tomorrow! Just think—by this time in one day, we'll probably be near Faron's Spring! Isn't that exciting?"

"Sure is," you start to say, but then frown. Something's up—there was a twig that just snapped real loud. Like, not normal for any self-respecting forest animal. Or at least, not normal for a small one, and if it's a huge-ass thing like a wolf or a bear, you've gotta be careful.

"Well, aren't you a fountain of enth—" Jade begins, but you press your finger to her lips, looking around. What _is _that sound? Like, heavy breathing or something, but weird as fuck too. That's no animal, you're pretty sure, so you edge closer to the trees and draw Jade with you, pulling her close to you. "What is it?" she whispers, looking up.

"You hear that?" you breathe in reply. "I don't know what it is, but—" Before you finish, Jade nods once and then slips out of your arms in the blink of an eye. In the blink of the other eye, she's scampering up the nearest tree, her green clothes doing her a favor here as she looks around. You hold your breath and hope to fucking god that whatever it is that's making that noise doesn't notice her.

She turns around again and starts climbing back down, very, very slowly, and you can't help but notice how pale she looks. Without really thinking about it you wrap your arms around her almost protectively and draw her close against your chest, stroking through her hair as soothingly as you can as she presses herself against you.

"Dave," she whispers. "We have to get out of here. There's—there's Bulbins, three of them, wandering around just barely a few yards away!"

Your eyes widen of their own accord. Bulbins? Here, in South Faron? What the fuck are they doing this close to your home? If they get into Ordona, shit's going down. Like, big time. Who in Ordon Village even knows much fighting? There's you, there's Rusl, there's Mayor Gramps, there's Jade, and there's Beth to a degree—she's learning, at least, but you'd rather she stay away from these shitheads. There's only three though, right? They're probably scouts. If you kill them now and they don't make it back to the main army—

Jade must have guessed what you were thinking, because her grasp on your arm tightens like a vice. "Dave, come on, let's go," she hisses. "Don't try to fight them off! We're outnumbered—"

"If we take one down by surprise, it's evenly matched before the fight even starts," you whisper back, edging out from behind the tree. Honestly it's some kind of goddamn miracle that they didn't notice you earlier, when you were both casually walking around and talking and nearly blundered right into their little spot over there—now that you know where to look, you can see them milling about, almost like they're waiting for something.

Jade pokes her head out next to you, still denying this idea. "No, bad idea. Look," she points with one slender finger, hidden mostly behind the trunk, and you follow her gaze to the three of them. What are you supposed to be looking for—oh.

Well, that changes things.

Each of them has a horn tied to his belt. You have no doubt that two of them would whip it out and blow it in a heartbeat if the third fell down dead.

"I told you you need to be more observant," she whispers. "If any one of them blows those horns and they get reinforcements, we're dead! Especially because," she adds, looking down at herself, "I'm unarmed."

Well, shit. It's a good thing you didn't decide to play the hero. But hey it fits, right? You aren't a hero anyway. Time to get back and warn everyone.

"Let's go home," you whisper back, and she nods, looking over her shoulder at the Bulbins once more.

"This is making me nervous," she murmurs as you draw closer to Ordona, almost to the Spring. "Like, really nervous. I can't help but feel like something bad is about to happen."

You can't help but agree, to be frank. When was the last time Bulbins were seen in south Faron Woods? What are they even doing here? They never mean anything good, especially these days. The Bulbins are a nomadic race all loosely tied to the authority of their king, and King Bulbin in this generation is a fucking piece of _shit_. Apparently he's pretty much agreed to make his people all sellswords to the highest bidder, and he's said some racist as hell things as well, according to the occasional news you get from travelers. Which is funny, considering that the Bulbins aren't the people native to this region, but whatever dude, if you say so.

But you do not like them being this close to your home, and that is a grade-A, one hundred percent true and verifiable fact. It gives you a bad feeling, too. It might not mean anything in particular, but you're still kinda nervous about it, or you guess you would be if people as cool as you got nervous.

Nah fuck that, you're nervous. This doesn't sit well with you. Maybe you're making a big deal out of nothing, but it's better to be safe than sorry, you guess.

As you and Jade approach the Spirit's Spring, you both let out audible sighs of relief, as if just by being closer to home you're suddenly way safer. At least you feel safer. You can hear the kids splashing around in the water, too—going by the voices you can hear, you'd guess it's Jen, Beth, Colin, Malo, and Talo. Usually, Jen is a quiet girl and keeps to herself, but you've heard from Jade that Talo has a big crush on her, so he probably badgered her into leaving the library and coming out here today. Good on them, she needs to get out some anyway. Kids shouldn't be as pale as you. It's just weird.

"Looks like we'll be okay," Jade murmurs, voicing the thoughts you've just been having. "Let's go find Grandpa, though, just to be on the safe side. Is he here?"

"Yeah," you agree, stepping through the gate to the spring with her. "He might be, let's look."

"Jade! Dave!" Colin jumps up and runs to greet you, a little smile appearing on his tiny face. Damn, children are short. "I heard you're both leaving tomorrow. I'm going to miss you..."

"It's okay! We'll be back soon, before you even know it!" Jade reassures him, smiling fondly and patting his shoulder. "And we can play with you today, if you want. I mean, we were planning to come sit here for a while anyway! Just as soon as we go find my grandfather. Is he around here?"

"No," Colin shakes his head.

"Oh," Jade sighs. "I guess we'd better go—"

There's a crashing sound and a roar. Beth screams.

That's when you realize that amid all the laughter and splashes, you didn't hear any of the hoofbeats coming south, from Faron Wood.

* * *

_AN: Oh gosh, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, for your support and well-wishes! :D Here's the next bit, where we're actually starting to get into the plot. I mean, I couldn't leave it just fluffy forever, right? :P_

_Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing! You people, keep on being awesome. :D_


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness And Blackness Too

_Warning for some violence._

* * *

Your name is Jade Harley and _oh goddesses help us_ there are mounted Bulbins riding through the gate right now, crashing through the wood with an awful splintering, cracking sound as their horned beasts roar and froth at the mouth, tearing across the sand at you.

Your legs are frozen and you can hardly breathe as the world seems to slow down. Everything seems to fade except for the iron grip of fear, holdig your legs firmly in place and keeping the scream in your throat from tearing itself out, and the terrifying weapons they hold and the fact that this is the Spirit's Spring and you are supposed to be safe here, you are supposed to be protected here how is this happening what is going on and why is it happening no no no this has to be a bad dream—

Beth screams in terror.

The frozen world shatters and the shackles on your legs crumble and suddenly you can move and panic and scream yourself, except you won't because the children, the children are here and you have to save them and so there is no time for you to panic or scream! There are a precious few seconds before the riders are upon you! You have to take action!

You grab Colin's wrist, yanking the dazed and frozen boy along with you as you flee from the area immediately near the gates into the shallow water near the other kids. They're all staring, horror-stricken, at the monstrosities riding in to—to do who knows what but it doesn't look good! Wait—where's Dave?

"Dave!" you shout wildly, looking around, and almost panic when you don't see him where you were standing before you realize he followed you and Colin, and he's here next to you standing in the water now. What do you do? What to do what to do what to do? The gates are definitely out of the question and the rocks are too steep to climb—it's really hard to get out of the spring without using the gates.

Except...

There's a secret tunnel, or at least a hidden one—it isn't really a secret, considering every child in the village and every person who used to be a child at some point, too, knows about it—behind the mossy rocks and vines, over on the southern side of the spring's rock walls. It's the most likely escape route at this point, if you can make it over there. You and Dave used to always use it rather than the gate to get into the spring, because that's much cooler, never mind the scraped knees or bumped heads or dirty clothes that it always resulted in—no no no stop that, there isn't time for reminiscing! Move, move, move!

Beside you, Dave seems frozen. You're about to shove him, snap him out of his shock, when your eyes widen even further as you see the two riders flanking the chief with his ugly banner raising bows, pointed at—at the children! You let out a wordless scream and dive forward, knocking them aside. The arrows just barely miss, landing harmlessly in the water, and the Bulbins shriek at you in their own language—you don't know what they're saying, but it's probably rude. They're closer now, riding around the group of you in a big circle. It'll slowly close, you bet, and you need to get the kids out _now_.

"Fuck," you hear Dave breathe, and you can't help but be really relieved that he's with you again, mentally speaking. Maybe together you can find a way out of this! "Fuck, fuck, _fuck_. Jade," he says, and you whip your head around to look at him briefly before you fix your eyes back on the Bulbins, standing protectively between them and the children as best as you can. Jen, the poor terrified darling, is clutching your waist with her face buried in your side, and your arms are spread slightly to the sides as if you can protect them that way too. Malo lets out a little whimper, and Beth's crying openly.

"The tunnel," you say tersely to Dave. "We have to get there!"

"Someone won't," he replies grimly. "There's no way we're all going to make it."

No.

_No._

No! You won't accept that!

"There's some way!" you protest desperately, barely aware that you're soaked to the skin. The archers raise another volley and you immediately stiffen, darting forward to act as bait before you jump back. At least they have terrible aim—you'd guess badly constructed bows are to blame, if you had to make a conjecture—but this won't last long. They're just toying with you and you know it. Soon, they'll tire of their sick and twisted sport, and they'll come in for the kill.

"No, there isn't!" Dave glares back at you, and you feel tears of rage and helplessness starting to well up. There has to be a way! You won't take these odds and you _know _he means to throw himself out as some sort of distraction to let you all get away, but you will not let him!

At least, you won't let him do it alone.

"Kids," you say in the most authoritative voice you can muster, "Dave and I are about to do something really dumb. When we do, I need you to run for the tunnel and get in as fast as you all can! Work together and get out of here. Go warn the village!"

"But what about you?" Colin asks.

"Doesn't matter," Dave says. "We'll be fine. Someone needs to tell the mayor about this."

You can't even believe that you're probably about to die. You feel numb. "On the count of three?" you ask, holding out one hand, and a little bit of warmth—barely anything against the mass of numbness you are, but there it is—blossoms when Dave takes it firmly.

"On the count of three," he agrees. "One... two... three!"

You both take off in a sprint at the head honcho looking fellow atop his armored boar. Dave gives you a boost, and you scamper up into the saddle, screaming, and get the guy in a headlock as fast as you can. He roars and starts to tilt to the side as he rapidly shakes to throw you off, and you brace for an impact as he falls from the saddle, landing hard in the water with a painful flop and a splash. It comes up about on his face, as you're on top, but that won't last long—he's stronger than you and he slaps you hard across the face with a gauntlet-covered hand, and dazed, you gasp and reel back before realizing your critical mistake—you let go of him. The next thing you know your head is under water and you're struggling to breathe, flailing and panicking and gasping every time you struggle to the surface—

Suddenly the weight of this guy is gone and you can sit up and gasp, drenched to the bone in the shallow water, until the fact that Dave just tackled him and they're rolling on and on toward the deeper water sinks in and you feel horror rising.

Then you look for the kids, and a little relief comes in. They've almost made it to the—

NO!

"Beth!" you scream, giving one fleeting and desperate glance at Dave before you start tearing across the spring to them, no matter how much it rips your heart in two to leave him there to what's surely going to be death, because you have to save the children. Beth has just been clubbed upside the head and Colin stopped to grab her and now the club is descending again—"Colin!" you shriek as he falls, too, and Talo, the stupid, heroic boy, tries to pick them both up and run away from the attacking Bulbin, who is currently trying to control his rearing boar. Maybe Talo can get away in time before the Bulbin gets his weapon in hand again, you want to hope.

It doesn't work, and Malo and Jen are left petrified just as you reach. A shout from behind you makes you whip your head around and your heart _shatters_ at what you see—Dave is floating in the deeper water, face-down and unmoving, and the big Bulbin is angrily gesturing and shouting a command as he remounts his boar.

But you don't have time to grieve.

"T—talo," Malo cries, taking a step forward and reaching for his fallen brother and you choke on a sob as an arrow sprouts from his shoulder. He gasps, stares at the blood starting to drip down his arm, and looks up at you plaintively, and then he faints from the pain or the shock, you guess. You scoop him up and then look up and—

The club is swinging towards Jen. "Go!" you shriek desperately and fling yourself at her, managing to shove her shoulder and make her stumble backwards, toward the tunnel, just as the blunt weapon connects with your head.

Pain explodes sharply in your temple and you're vaguely aware of screaming, and then the world goes black.

* * *

Your name is Dave Strider, and... and _owww. _Fuck. Your head is killing you, your lungs are burning, and you feel horrible. What the hell even is going on—

Memory comes rushing back to you in a flood. The Bulbins in the Spring, the kids' screams of terror, the rage that had filled you at the sight of that piece of shit trying to drown Jade in front of you, the struggle you already knew you would lose when you tackled him, the... fact that you drowned?

What.

You're lying awake right now, in water distinctly shallower than the water you were held under until you blacked out.

You open your eyes, groggy and dazed and confused, and feel your stomach do uncomfortable flip-flops at the sight before you. The sun is dipping low in the sky, the time is late evening, almost dusk. Twilight, really, if you were looking for the proper word, which you fucking _weren't_, because you are wondering how long you've been lying here. Didn't they attack in late afternoon? What happened at the village?

Did ... did no one make it out and warn them? You'd assume if they did, they'd have gotten you out of the water into, you dunno, a fucking bed or something? You feel like _shit _and you just want to go back to sleep. You're too weak to be awake right now, and you can even feel the blissful darkness calling you to slumber, already...

_Do not sleep._

You jolt back awake, gasping and coughing. What were you _thinking_, trying to go to sleep in the spring?! Are you fucking _crazy_? You sit up then, eyes watering as you cough up some water, and you rub at your face. What even was that voice that woke you up just then? It sure as hell wasn't your own mind, because that was more than ready to stay asleep, that was for fucking sure. Farore, you are so out of it and so confused. Where is Jade when you need to lie down and complain and get told you're cute and have fluffy hair—

Wait.

Your heart leaps to your throat as you raise your eyes from the water immediately around you, gulping as you take in the spring. It's empty, but there's blood floating in the water, lapping gently and eerily on the sandy shore.

Oh goddesses.

Jade.

Where is Jade?

And the kids, too? Where are they?

You aren't an optimist by any stretch of the word. You are a fucking realist and you _know _there is pretty much no way they all got out in the tunnel, not after you got knocked out. Which... you really feel like you ought to be dead right now. You're pretty sure the douche drowned you after all! Held you underwater, choked you, then left you facedown probably considering how you woke up.

Why are you even alive? What the _fuck _is happening? You can barely think straight!

_I saved you._

That weird voice again. What the fuck what the fuck what the _fuck_ you can't handle this, whatever "this" even is! But hey, you're alone, so no one has to see what you're about to do, right? No one has to know that you just—you lower your head into your hands and quietly let out a choked gasp, a tear sliding down your face and landing in the water to mingle with the blood. It's followed by a second, and a third and a fourth and a fifth and oh _fuck _this fuck everything you don't understand you don't want this! Can't things go back to this morning? It was just this morning when you were sitting with the Mayor and Jade and having a leisurely lunch with them, and—

_Do not wallow in despair._

"Shut the fuck up!" you yell angrily, slapping the water with your hands as if it'll make you feel better. It stings a little bit instead. "Get the hell out of my head and just. Just let me fucking sit here if I fucking want to!" You don't know why you're yelling at a voice in your head. You don't know why you can't focus, why your chest still burns when you try to breathe deeply, why you're so exhausted, why you're _alive_. You don't fucking know anything and you just want to cry. Alone, without any voices!

_... No mortal has spoken to me in such a way in a long time._

"Do you see all the fucks I don't give? Look at them! Goddamn things are everywhere!" you say in reply, dashing tears from your eyes. When even was the last fucking time you cried, like really actually cried? You don't remember—wait, yes, you do. It was several years ago. You were upset because you were learning to ride and you just couldn't get the hang of it and you were so fucking _sick _of your own ineptitude. So you came back from the ranch atop the hill and you sat down by the lake and just cried a little. Jade came out, too, eventually, and she sat beside you and hugged you close and wiped your face and tried to make you smile.

_You are upset. This is understandable, hero, but you must rise above it._

"Shut up," you say weakly, absently, thinking not about this voice in your head but about Jade and that day and goddesses you keep crying, you can't stop. And yet, as you look around the spring, you can't help but feel uneasy, anxious. Something's wrong.

_Valiant child... Know this. I am Ordona, the spirit of light that guards this spring._

"Great fucking job of that you did," you snarl. "Shut _up_." Wait, wait—that's exactly it, you can't stop crying and there's blood in the water and you nearly died and they're all gone but, but! The important thing here is that there are no bodies. Yours was the only one, and apparently this fuckass light spirit saved you. Big whoop. But what that means is important!

If there are no bodies, they must not be dead.

_Hear me now, and learn of the quest foretold in years long past. _

You stand up, wobbling and uneasy and fuuuck you can barely breathe, still, and your lungs feel like fire with every breath you take, and with determination being pretty much the only thing holding your sopping wet and kind of cold and really weak frame up, you start walking, toward the gate.

_What are you doing? You must stay, you are the hero of legend. Do not let haste overrule your actions!_

The thought of Jade smiling at you this morning, of the kiss she pressed to your cheek earlier, crosses your mind. The children, playing happily, moments before those fuckers came and ruined everything, too. You break into a run.

_Where are you going—_

Apparently, the damn spirit can't get in your head when you're beyond the boundaries of the spring. Good for it and its fucking dumb rambling about prophecies and heroes and bullshit. You stumble over a rock but keep going, running as fast as you can northwards towards Faron. You have to get there, you have to find them, you have to do _something_!

The ground is exceedingly hard and your head is pounding. It isn't until you have to stop and rest for the third time that you wonder what you'll even do, in this state, when you find them, if you find them alive at all. For all you know, they were all terribly injured and died soon after being taken. You don't want to consider it, but your pessimist brain flashes the image of bloody and broken bodies and lifeless green eyes across your mind's eye, and you gasp and shake your head vehemently. That's not what you're going to find! It isn't!

It isn't until you collapse, exhausted, for the fourth time, that you wonder why the everloving _fuck_ you didn't go back to the village. You could have gotten help, gotten some healing, gotten proper weapons and armor... shit. But it's too late to turn back now, you're too far away. You won't make it, in all likelihood. The only way to go is forward.

The sun is almost gone. It's getting really dark as you keep lurching unsteadily through the trees, gasping for breath because fuck it you still can't breathe properly, and you're so fucking cold from the damp in your hair and clothes, and your only weapon is this goddamned dagger in your boot and what the _hell _are you even doing?

The thought of Jade, Jade and the children, is the only thing that keeps you going, honestly.

You aren't sure how long you've been walking when you near the path into Faron Woods proper. It's a while, for sure, even along the road, especially becaue you don't even know which path the goddamned Bulbins took and you have to guess and check sometimes when it forks. Searching for tracks is hard in the dark.

And then the darkness takes shape and coalesces, a huge wall of blackness rising into the sky. You stop, rubbing your eyes, and stare at it for a long moment before you walk closer.

"What the fuck," you breathe as you near it. Where's Jade? Where are Malo, Talo, Beth, Colin, and Jen? The tracks you've been able to find lead this way.

An ominous sense of dread starts to fill you as you near it, making the hairs on the back of your neck stick up and sending chills down your spine. Uncomfortable and feeling nervous as all hell, you go ahead and pull out your dagger, walking with it in hand. The closer you get, the taller it seems, stretching on up into the night sky and blocking out the stars. See, the sky is dark blue, but this thing? Pure fucking black. No light reflects off it at all. You don't know what to make of it but you do not like it one bit.

It descends all the way to the ground, too, you realize when the path straightens out and you aren't just catching glimpses of this weird wall through the trees. What's going on?

The dread grows. You suppress a shudder as you get closer and closer. Weird, golden patterns seem to ripple under its surface, almost like some sort of writing in a language you can't understand. It makes you uneasy as you walk as steadily as you can, slowing your pace more and more as the distance between you and it gets less and less.

The tracks lead straight into it. You don't know what that means and you don't know what "it" is, either. This was a bad idea, something completely unfamiliar to you is at play here and you have no idea what's going on. This was a bad fucking idea and you should have gone back to the village. You _should _go back to the village and get help, maybe even go talk to that fucking spirit again. Oh god you don't know what's going on but you're so nervous right now that you might even call yourself scared, with the vibes this thing is giving you—it's just wrong, and it makes you really, really on edge.

You turn to flee back towards Ordona when there's a sound like a loud splash in a really thick liquid. You whirl around in time to see, to your abject horror and utter terror, a huge black hand, its size across the palm about your full height, shooting out from the wall, and you don't have time to do anything other than scream in fear before it grabs you, wrapping fully around your body and yanking you forcefully back into the blackness.

Everything else is a blur.

You vaguely recognize Faron but it looks _different_, drained and eerie and wrong, but before you can examine it further you feel the strength leaving your body and you gasp for breath, clutching at your throat and falling to your knees. You feel sick, beyond sick, like something is clawing its way out of your body and itching to escape and kill you again in the process, and it's terrifying and you don't know what's going on but you're fighting a losing battle and you know it, you're weak and this air is strong, whatever's in it. It's getting to you and—

You let out a harsh cry of mingled pain and fear, a shout to the heavens for mercy from the goddesses, maybe, as you collapse. Your body doesn't feel right and your voice doesn't sound like your voice, but you can't—you can't stay awake, and that burning feeling on your left hand is fading out, just... just like your consciousness.

All goes dark.

Your unconscious body is dragged away by a monstrous creature, and unbeknownst to either it or you, a third figure strokes her chin and narrows her blind eyes, watching.

* * *

_AN: Dun dun dun! The plot thickens... or, well, for you who know the game already, stuff happens that you already knew was coming :P either way, it happened, I guess! Anyway, I was excited to write this chapter because here's where we get into the actual story, rather than all the fluffy set-up (well, here and the end of last chapter, but oh well)._

_Also, we see the introduction of a certain Twili imp! Hm, I wonder who that could be! ;]_

_Ah, and one thing that I forgot to mention last chapter but was reminded of by a review: Jen isn't particularly important, I'm just expanding the world a bit. Expect to see a lot of relatively unimportant OCs name-dropped, because honestly I think even a village would have more than what, fifteen people, tops. In-game, that was a limitation because they would have to code all those people and make dialogue options, etc, but in a story, names are easy, and the imagination takes care of the rest! I'm just doing a little world-building, hehe._

_That said, if anyone wants to know more about these OCs as they appear, I can probably whip some stuff up for you!_

_Thanks for reading, everyone :D and thank you even more to those of you who leave me reviews!_


	4. Chapter 4: This Goddamn Imp

Your name is Terezi Pyrope, and boy are you ashamed to have sunk this low.

Actually, you're ashamed in general—you should have been stronger, you should have seen it coming, you should have acted faster, been able to prevent it from happening. But apparently you weren't strong enough for that.

Your blood boils at the thought of that damn imposter king, lording himself around and abusing his power left and right and hurting all the people of the Twilight Realm in the process, not caring at all because what does it matter so long as his own power increases, right!

Goddesses you hate him so much.

You will do whatever it takes to get him off the throne and deep into the depths of prison—or a grave, you wouldn't mind that either—where he belongs. He does not deserve this power and he will not keep it, if you have any say on the matter. Oh no, just let him wait! He will find that you are far more persistent than he will ever give you credit for, he who doesn't take you into account at all in his arrogant, cocky actions! He'll see. You'll do whatever you need to, and you will make him pay.

Which is why you're here, unobserved as you slip through the trees in Faron Woods—ugh, this world of light is so different from the home you knew. It's so ... orderly and pristine compared to the gentle shadows that you're accustomed to. But at least the cloud of Twilight that covers it makes it a little more palatable to your sightless eyes.

You mean... you don't agree with the fact that the Twilight is here, because it's _his _fault it's here and it's part of his damn usurper scheme, but as long as it is here, you might as well enjoy it, right? It's a lot less dangerous to you than the brightness of the world of light as it normally would be, that's for sure.

Although the Twilight is pretty dangerous to the people of the world of light...

Nah, that's all prissy miss princess's fault. Not your problem.

Your lip curls up in disdain, revealing your pointed fangs as you flit from branch to branch, never really bothering to take your full corporeal form. Not that this is your actual form! You're stuck in this stupid body, the body of a measly imp, not—! Ugh. You hate this. You hate him, and you hate what he did to you, and you just want to get your damn magic in line and take him down.

Which is why it looks like you need the boy.

The shadow beast, poor dear, seems to be dragging him along the path to Hyrule Castle Town and the main dungeons. Interesting. Must have something to do with that light that flared up on his hand right when he touched the Twilight; you'd bet that that light has something to do with the reason that he's not dissolved into a spirit or a lesser being. That's what the Twilight usually does to people, but not him... oh no, he was just transformed into a white wolf.

_Fascinating_.

You keep following, but the further you go the more obvious it gets that the beast is just heading to the nearest portal to take it to the castle—unlike you, the shadow beasts are little more than brutes and thralls. They don't even have the magical ability to create their own shadow portals like you do—part of it's because they're... well, they are what they are, and that's something else that makes your blood boil—so they have to rely on a network of portals that has been put up all over the world of light. You can tap into those, easily, just as you can make your own. Ugh, how long will this guy take to walk there anyway? You're getting bored of just waiting and watching!

Yawn. Can't the action start already? You've sat and schemed long enough, oh yes—one small, impish hand automatically reaches up to brush the strange helm that rests on your head—and you are ready to put your plans in motion.

_Soon_, you tell yourself. _Just wait a little longer._

You know, you know, but you are soooo ready to end this. You will use the boy to navigate the world of light for you whenever you need that done, you'll acquire the Fused Shadows—they _belong_ to your people, anyway!—and then you will take that false king off the throne he doesn't belong on. You don't even need the boy after you get the Fused Shadows! He can go back home or do whatever he wants, if he can stop being a wolf, as soon as that's done. You just need this all to happen, and the sooner it does, the better.

Being stuck as an imp is so humiliating.

Ah! _Finally. _The beast reaches the portal, the wolf's prone form still thrown over its misshapen shoulder as it enters the strangely discolored beam of light, disintegrating into particles and falling into the open void. You smirk and open your own portal, embracing the darkness as you zoom through the void, and re-form on the other side. There, yes! There's your quarry. You will have to be careful, though; you can't risk getting caught, as much as you're loathe to admit that he's more powerful than you, especially considering what's been done to you now.

You toy with the idea of turning _him _into a sickly creature like the imp, just to make him suffer. That would be fun, wouldn't it? You could do that and then throw him in prison to rot.

But first you have to overthrow him, and that means you can't be seen right now. If he knows you're snooping around the castle, well, that probably won't end happily. He thinks he's been merciful so far—hah! You sneer at the thought. Then you spot a guard, another shadow beast, and quickly let yourself dissolve into shadow particles for a moment, hiding in the vegetation along the side of the dungeon entrance until he's gone.

You sneak into the dungeon with ease, considering that you don't always have to take a corporeal form, and then browse around until you find yourself an unconscious wolf chained to the floor of his cell. Ugh, how delicate these humans are! He's been unconscious for _hours _now.

But he looks like he's the most likely candidate for helping you, so you have no choice. You don't _want _to have to get one of the lowly humans involved, and you don't _want _to have to deal with them or make them do anything, but you have no choice, and if they know what's best for them they should listen to you, right?

They'd better. You're stuck like this until you fix it and you need that wolf to do so.

You settle down in the corner, and wait.

* * *

Your name is Dave Strider, and... and you don't feel so great.

In fact, this is about the least great you've ever felt, as long as your memory goes back. Way, way worse even than the time you fell out of a tree while trying to get an apple from the top and broke your arm. Wait, shit, do you have any broken bones? With a bit of a sense of urgency you wiggle your fingers, shift your arms and legs as best as you can. They feel weird and heavy and not right, but you can move them, so nothing's broken at least. But you have no energy and you don't even want to move right now, so you don't bother, keeping your eyes closed and trying to gather your thoughts.

Today _started_ real nice, with lunch with the Mayor and Jade, and then your long walk in the woods with her, too. It has not stayed nice. You ... you really hope Jade's okay. You don't know what's going on and if you had more energy in your weary and battered body you'd probably be on your feet trying to run after her again, but you don't think you can accomplish that right now. You ... you'd rather just lie here. And worry, because there's no way in hell that you _aren't_ going to worry.

Oh, goddesses. Jade, Malo, Talo, Jen, Beth, Colin... all of them. Gone. What is even going on back home in Ordon Village? Everyone must have figured out something's wrong by now. Ugh, why why _why _were you such a fucking moron, you should have gone back to warn them, what if there were more attacks!

Then again, you don't know if you could look Jade's grandfather in the eye and tell him that Jade got either killed or kidnapped and you were right there but you didn't save her. You _know _you wouldn't be able to meet Rusl or Uli's gaze if you tried to tell them about Colin. Oh, goddesses, this is all your fault, if you'd been more prepared and less of a huge fucking idiot it wouldn't have happened!

Shit, you don't think you'll ever be able to forgive yourself for it. The blood in the water still haunts you. Either it was the children's blood, which is harrowing to think about, or it was Jade's, which is almost _worse_ to consider.

You let out a groan because that's a little better than a sob, but then you stop, frozen, because that was _not _your voice. Yeah, you feel like shit, but that shouldn't have changed your voice to sound—different. Animalistic? Not like you, for sure. Not like your voice at all.

What's going on now, anyway? Where are you? The last thing you remember is that weird, warped and dark version of Faron woods and the red-hot pain pain _pain_ and the burning sensation on the back of your hand, and now you're here. Where is here? The floor is hard beneath your head and fuck your body hurts. Well, hurts isn't the right word, it just feels _wrong_. Not like it should. You might have a concussion maybe? You should probably try to figure out where you are, see if you can get some help for your pounding head.

You open your eyes and freeze, trying to take in what you see. Cell wall, chains, dirty floor, stones everywhere.

Shit.

Shiiiiit.

What the hell are you doing in a prison compound of all places? What did you do to get in here? How do you get out? You haven't done anything wrong!

Are you chained up? Oh Farore you're probably chained up. You sit up in a flash of panic and look down and emit a yip of surprise and distress—yeah, that's right, a yip. It's followed by a whine and then another distressed yip because _holy shit you are now a wolf._

This is a dream, this is a dream, this has got to be a fucking dream, you think, trying to quell the rising panic in your core and in your mind. Wake up, wake up, wake the fuck up and go find Jade and the kids, Strider! Wake up!

You fail to wake up.

Okay, okay, think. What's the last thing you can recall? You saw that big, black wall of ... _something_, blocking the path into Faron, all around, and you got closer to it, and then... something grabbed you? You think? And it pulled you through there and then everything hurt and you passed out, apparently. Okay. You turned into a wolf. Was that what the feeling of everything hurting was? When you stopped being you and you became a wolf?

Holy shit holy shit what happened to you why are you a wolf you don't want this how do you go back how do you change back? You don't want this you don't want to be a wolf you want to go home you want Jade back you want the kids back you want to go _home_!

"Oh, stop moping," a light, slightly lilting voice says, and your head whips up to look through the bars. There your gaze is met by a ... uh. What exactly is that thing? It sounded female so you think maybe it's a fairy of some sort...? Fuck, what is going on here. What the hell is going on here!

You growl at the creature and give it (her?) your best glare, which hopefully is impressive considering your newfound wolfiness. But why are you a wolf? You're terrified, honestly—there's a roiling mass of anxiety in your core and you are being faced with the horrible realization that you might be stuck like this forever.

"I said stop moping, didn't I? Aw, poor little wolfie," the imp laughs, showing off her pointed teeth. "Are you getting used to your new body yet?" Her voice is still light and mocking, as if she's talking to a small child. It's infuriating beyond belief.

You growl again. Who the hell does this ... whatever she is, think she is, anyway? You've just been ripped away from _everything _you knew all your fucking _life _and for all you know your best friend and a bunch of fucking children are _dead_ and she sits here and laughs at you! You feel like shit and you just want today to have not happened. If only you had the power to just go back in fucking time and make all this right again!

She laughs again, a sort of shrill and annoying sound. You flatten your ears and glare some more. "I take that as a yes! Well, isn't that just great. Look, let me just cut to the chase. I _could _get you out of here... but you'll have to help me out in return. Think of it like a favor for a favor! What do you say?"

You do not flinch in your staring. Help her? Yeah right, like you have a reason to do that!

... Then again, you kinda do. That whole "getting you out of here" bit might be useful. You don't know what these fuckers want with you, but if you're chained up in a dank dungeon somewhere—where the hell in Hyrule are you? Does anything near Faron even _have _dungeons?—you have to assume that whatever it is, it's probably not good. Getting outta here is in your best interests.

But you don't know what her price is, and that just doesn't seem smart to you. God _damn _it, if you weren't a fucking wolf you'd be able to communicate the fact that you need more details!

(Why. The hell. Are you. A wolf.)

Something in your expression must indicate to her that you're not satisfied but you're listening, because her grin grows and her eyes widen just a little. Goddesses though, are her eyes unsettling! They're pure red and seem to glow just a bit. Her body is dark and covered in swirls of light, almost a teal color, and there's a weird stone hat on her head. You don't know what to make of her.

"Aw, okay, wolfie! If you really insist on staying here... oh, you don't want to stay here? That's probably better for you. I think I heard something about drawing out your power, and cutting off your head? Hm, probably irrelevant." She shrugs and examines her nails, daintily floating into the air like she's sitting on a stool that isn't there.

... Fuck.

You whine just a little, hating yourself for being desperate, but you are afraid to die and you need to find the kids, you need to find Jade. You need to get out of here, you can't die like this!

The imp chuckles. "Wonderful! I'm glad you're seeing things my way, wolfie. There's a few things you should probably know, I guess... anyway. You can call me Terezi. Well, you could if you could talk!" she laughs again, shrill and cruel, and you growl. "Ah, ah, no, none of that, or I won't help you. You can call me Terezi, and you have to be respectful to me and listen to what I tell you. And I'm on your side, wolfie! I don't like the Twilight being here any more than you do. I want your help to get rid of it and the usurper king who brought it here!"

Twilight? Usurper king? What happened to the Princess? What happened to the land, for that matter?

"Oh," Terezi snorts. "Clueless little country bumpkin, aren't you, wolfie? Well, then, don't you worry your little head about that stuff, leave it to me. I'll be the brains of our little operation!"

You bristle. Fuck her, you're not stupid. You're confused, you're in pain, you're grieving, and you're weary, but you aren't fucking stupid. You don't like this Terezi. As soon as you get out of here, you're going to part ways, favor or no favor. In fact, going by the way she's talking, you have a feeling you won't like whatever she's going to ask you to do.

And your first priority isn't the Twilight or the royalty or whatever bullshit. Your first priority is the kids, is Jade. You want to bring the kids home, you want to hold Jade again, you want to go back to life like it used to be. Fuck the Twilight and the King and the Princess and whoever else.

Terezi interrupts your thoughts with a little "hah!" as she points at the chain on your leg. It explodes—a small blast, nothing harmful, but it startles you and you jump away. But at least now you can run around your cell.

Which... is still locked and everything.

Gee, thanks, shithead.

"Oh, no, don't give me that look!" Terezi shakes her head carefreely, as if she's not at all bothered by the circumstances. "This is your first test. If you can figure out how to get out of that cell and over to me, we're good! Otherwise, I'll just have to find someone else, I guess. I need to know I can rely on you not to be a _total _idiot, wolfie!"

_Fuuuuuuck youuuuu_, you think at her, hoping that you can convey this sentiment through wolf faces. Because seriously. Fuck her.

She laughs and then waves daintily all like toodle-doo, turning her back on you to let out a theatrically exaggerated yawn. "Tick tock, tick tock!"

You kind of want to be petty and refuse to move, but you don't trust her not to actually leave you here and if what she said was true, you don't think you can afford to just stay here either. And right now, she's the best hope of getting out that you have. So, with much reluctance and resentment and anger simmering under your fur, you drag your baleful gaze from her to examine the cell, especially the area around the bars. There's an old, broken crate sitting right up against them, on your side, but other than that all you can see is the rods going straight up and down into the ceiling and the floor. They don't seem damaged or particularly breakable.

Well, there must be a way out of this damn cell, otherwise she wouldn't have told you to find it, right? Unless she's just your jailor having a laugh at this idiot trying to get out, but... in that case, why would she have destroyed the chain?

Think, Strider, you tell yourself. What can she see that you can't?

Your eyes land on the crate again. That's the only thing obscuring part of the bars from you, but letting her still see them. That must be it.

You walk over to it slowly, examining it from all sides. You can't really tell colors apart but you think it used to be painted yellow-green? Fuck, this is a dog problem, isn't it. Just great. But at least you can smell things. For example, this crate smells like shit!

There's no way around this. You shove your back against it, trying your best to push it out of the way enough that you can squeeze between it and the bars, until it finally budges and the half-rotted wood falls in on itself. _Gross._

But it does the trick, and you can see that the three bars previously hidden to you actually have broken bottoms, and there's enough space that you can just barely wriggle through. You do that with a little bit of pain because fuck that's hard metal and you're not that small and you also still don't feel great, and then you stand there and stare up at Terezi, who probably is about your height but is not standing on the floor.

"Good job!" she laughs at you and then—wait what the fuck she just vanished! Like disintegrated into a bunch of bubbles or particles or something and where the fuck did she go—

A solid weight thumps down on your back; you panic and try to dislodge it, jumping and twisting this way and that. Then a hard twist on your ear that stings, ow, ow, _ow_, comes, and you stop, stifling a whine that your wolf body seems to want to admit. You're too proud for that shit though, so you swallow the pain.

"We'll be having none of that, wolfie," Terezi's voice says, and you realize she's sitting on you like you're some kind of fucking steed.

Ah, how low you have sunk. Did Maplehoof hate you this much? You hope not; you really like that horse. Hopefully she's okay.

Terezi can go to hell.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Terezi demands. "We have things to do. Hurry up, start walking!"

Fuck you, you really want to tell her. But you can't, so you pick up your paws and pad down the damp stone corridor. You don't know what you're doing or where you're going, but your goal is to get out of here and find the kids, find Jade. You gotta make it up to them, you failed them already. Now you have to bring them home.

_Please don't be dead,_ you beg them silently. _Hang on. I'm coming._

* * *

_AN: Ah yes, hello Midnarezi! You sure seem like a meanie right now :c don't worry, she gets better, as those of you who've played the game know! She just starts off a bit ... self-serving, I guess. _

_To answer a question brought up in a review, well, Dave is indeed a wolf. I toyed with the idea of crow!Dave, but then it didn't seem to fit with a lot of things - the wolf as the symbol of valor seems more fitting than that of the crow, plus howling stones miiight be a thing, and then also it'd have to be a big crow if Terezi the imp will be sitting on his back, you know?_

_Anyway, happy Monday! Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing! :D_


	5. Chapter 5: This Does Not Rock

Your name is Jade Harley, and ... unghhh, your head hurts.

Actually, you don't feel too great in general. There's this weird almost prickly feeling running through your body, but more than that your wrists and ankles hurt too—

Oh.

Oh no.

They hurt because there's these ropes digging into them, and the realization of the fact that you're tied up and along with the kids have been tossed in the back of a rickety old wooden cart kicks in suddenly and you freeze. Should you open your eyes? If you open the eyes, the guard that might be watching you would know that you're awake. If they don't know you're awake, they might accidentally say something useful, like where they're taking you or something. Or why you're being taken at all! Why aren't you dead, why didn't they kill you instead and leave it at that?

The image of a figure floating face-down in the spring you used to play in drifts across your mind's eye.

Why aren't you dead, indeed?

Now that you're exhausted, immobilized, and completely helpless, it seems like a perfect time to stop and think, doesn't it? There isn't a lot else to do, after all—cracking your eyes open just a little bit reveals that the children are indeed lying unconscious all around you—so you relax your body as much as you can and let your mind wander, trying not to panic. There's nothing you can do to help yourself or the kids until you know more about what's going on, especially not while tied up in the back of a cart.

So you close your eyes and let your thoughts drift, back along what you've done today, through the horrible seconds of the fight at the Spring; hardly a fight, was it! And then of course your memory brings you back to what you did today before that, and suddenly you're fighting back tears.

The woods had been so golden-green and beautiful, and you can't help but wish you had told Dave you loved him, had told him how much you enjoyed his company and valued his presence, had mustered up the courage to kiss him, or had held him tighter at least, just done _something _because you feel like you just took his presence for granted, assumed that since he'd always been with you, he always would be.

He isn't now, that's for sure. And he never will be again.

Oh, how you want to see him again now, to pretend that it didn't happen, that he's okay, that he'll come riding in on a white horse—Maplehoof, he named her, and you always laughed when he reminded you of that name—and then the two of you can rout these Bulblins and just go _home_. You want to go home so desperately it hurts like a physical pain in your chest, oh god you want to go home!

Wait. Home...

Please let home be okay, you plead. Let Grandpa be alright. You wll find a way out of this mess and you will get these kids home, you will! You just desperately need there to be a home for them to come back to. But as sure as your name is Jade Harley, you are not giving up this easily.

Dave gave his life to save yours. You're going to make sure that that was worth something.

So you carefully, cautiously let your eyes open, just a crack, peering through your lashes and trying to ignore the stab of pain through your head at the sudden influx of light. Well, there isn't a lot of light—you'd guess it's evening, late evening or dusk at that—but all the same your eyes are none too pleased. Do you have a concussion or something that's making you so photosensitive? You hope not, you need a clear head and your wits about you if you're going to protect the kids from whatever's coming up.

Not that you've been doing a great job of that or anything, but that isn't going to stop you from trying. You will keep these children safe or die in the attempt.

Like Dave, your memories whisper.

_Shut up_, you hiss back.

You can't—you can't afford to grieve now. You have to stay strong, to keep yourself in this feeling of numbness and shock, because if you break down, the kids will have no one to turn to and no one to protect them. You can't let that happen, you can't fail them again, and so you can_not_ let yourself shed a single tear over your best friend.

... Or not.

Alright. You can't let yourself shed a second tear.

You squeeze your eyes shut again, stubbornly ignoring the drop that just rolled down the side of your face into the hair, and swallow hard, try to force down the lump in your throat and the burning in the back of your eyes and the sorrow sitting in the pit of your stomach, try to choke it in shock again. You have to bottle it up, bottle it up and take that bottle and bury it in a deep, dark pit. You can't afford to let it out.

Stop. Thinking. About. Dave.

With a pang, you imagine in exquisite detail the messy fall of his white hair over his forehead, the way it always managed to get in his eyes and he would have to shake his head to toss it back. You imagine the feel of his slightly calloused hands in yours, their warmth and familiarity, and you imagine the soft smile he sometimes looked at you with when it was just the two of you and a gentle moment. You imagine the way it felt to wrap your arms around him and lay your cheek against the slightly rough fabric of his tunic, listening to his heartbeat. You imagine ... you close your eyes and there he is, standing in front of you, smiling tenderly and looking at you like he only did when he thought you weren't looking.

And then you take that memory and you imagine yourself folding it away and hiding it in the darkest hole you can think of, putting all that light and joy as far from mind as possible.

Letting out a breath, you stop for a moment, clearing your thoughts as much as you can. Count to five, breathe in. Make your mind blank and empty. Breathe out.

It's an old meditation technique that Grandpa taught you once. It helps you stay calm and grounded, helps you keep your head from drifting away from your body, in some sense.

Breathe in.

There's the roughness of the ground the carriage rumbles over. Going by the sound and just how bumpy it is, you'd guess you're traveling over harder soil than that of the forest, kind of rocky rather than just packed dirt. Hmm...

Breathe out.

Your hands are bound rather crudely, now that you pay attention to them. The rope is thin and frayed. If you could find yourself something even remotely sharp, you might be able to break those bonds.

Breathe in.

This time when you inhale deeply, you crack your eyes open again, this time looking down. On the other side of the carriage, you can see Colin, Malo, and Talo, limp and still unconscious as far as you can tell. Jen is missing, but Beth lies on the wood in front of you; by the way she's kind of curled in on herself and tense, you can tell she's awake. Her eyes are squeezed shut in fright, and if the carriage weren't already so bumpy you would guess that she is trembling.

You gently nudge her with your tied hands. She doesn't respond, and so you do it again, a soft touch that could easily be mistaken for a limp body brushing another. But this time she opens her big blue eyes and they meet your green ones, behind your scrached glasses.

"Jade," she breathes, and then she buries her face in your chest, definitely trembling. You wish you could hold her, but these damned ropes prevent you from doing anything other than awkwardly scooting over a little bit closer. "Jade, I want to go home."

"Shhh," you whisper back, grateful that she had the sense to keep her voice low. "Don't cry, sweetie. I know, I know... I'll get you home, promise."

You really hope you can uphold that promise.

Beth looks up at you again. "I'm—I'm scared," she whispers. "Where are they taking us?"

Ah. An excellent question, Beth. You look up again, trying to look at the scenery as best as you can. The trees are thinning and you can see hills rising off in the distance, glimpses caught in the flashes between trunks and leaves. Hmm... there are mountains on both the western and northeastern borders of Hyrule, but surely you haven't been unconscious long enough for them to take you all the way north. That means you must be closer to the Eldin range. Where _are _they taking you?

"I'm not sure," you admit, looking back down at her. "But they'll have to stop sometime, and ... I'm coming up with a plan."

It isn't really much of a plan—right now, it consists of "Find something sharp, cut ropes, pretend you haven't cut ropes, and wait for an opportunity", but it's better than nothing. With luck, you won't have to wait around to find out where they're taking you.

_Nayru, please, grant me a lot of luck._

You will need it.

* * *

That night, the troop holding you captive stops for a rest, hacking at the few trees until they have enough wood to start a fire. You wrinkle your nose and avert your gaze, scooting closer to the other prisoners and turning your face away from the Bulblins and their fire—they're using green, wet limbs, and it's a low, smouldering and smoky flame, not a robust crackly one like dry wood would create.

Malo is leaning against Talo, who shifts over and leans against your side. You softly press a kiss to the top of his head as Beth nestles herself against your other shoulder, Colin next to her leaning in too. Normally, you know he would be averse to such affection, but... these aren't exactly normal circumstances, now, are they?

"Jade?" Colin breaks the silence, his voice even more quiet than usual—an accomplishment, you think dryly, and would smile if not for the gravity of this situation. "Where's Jen?"

"I'm not sure," you murmur back, doing your best to keep your own worry out of your voice. You've been wondering the same thing for a while now, but you can't come up with a reason for her to have been separated from you. Plus, there were three boars and five riders attacking at the spring, and all three of them are here, their five riders, too. That means that maybe she got away...?

The big lordly one who—who you attacked, he's here too, sitting by the fire and messily eating some dried meat with his companions. Two of them sit at the side of the flames with him; one stands guard at the perimeter, and the other stands guard over you. Apparently he's okay with the four of you talking, though. Which is good, because the kids need whatever comfort they can get.

"I'm hungry," Talo complains, and you press your lips together with a pang because you are so helpless that you can't even get this poor boy food. It chafes you to admit that, because in the past you've always been capable of taking care of yourself and everyone around you, too. You _hate _being helpless and restrained, with nothing to do.

"Me too," Beth murmurs from your other side, and you let out a short, frustrated sigh. That's it.

"Excuse me," you call out to the Bulblin standing nearby. He turns to you, misshapen green face and all, and growls something in their language. You don't speak it very well, only knowing bits and pieces from textbook mentions over the years, and you don't have any clue what he said, though the body language and vocal tone makes you pretty sure it's nothing good. But all the same, you forge on. "Can we have some food too, please? The children—"

A heavy hand slaps you across the face, hard enough to whip your head around, and as the shock of impact fades you wince from the harsh stinging on your cheek, your eyes burning. _No, no, no, do not cry in front of the kids—!_

You blink a few times and then force yourself to roll your eyes as the guard gives you a warning look, returning to his post. "Could've just said no," you mutter, just loud enough for the children to hear you, trying to play this off casually even though your heart is still pounding and you want to break down like you had earlier. This is just too much, but you have to be strong, you have to be strong!

But then Beth giggles, a watery and thin and kind of sad sound, but she's smiling even if it is wan and small, and that makes you think that your efforts so far have been enough.

Talo shifts against your side, and Malo makes a little mewling whine of complaint. "Can't you sit still?" he demands.

"No, this is really uncomfortable and my arms hurt and there's this stupid rock digging into my back!" Talo grouses back, glaring at his little brother.

"Well," Malo retorts, "if you hadn't insisted that we go to the spring today—"

"Stop it!" Colin suddenly jumps in, sitting up as fully as he could without toppling over, so that he can glare across you over at the squabbling siblings. "Stop it, stop fighting!"

"Isn't it bad enough that we're—we're _who even knows where_ and no one knows if Jen is alive or what, and they're taking us somewhere and we're probably going to die—" Beth starts, but her voice cracks and then she buries her face in your shoulder, shaking with muffled tears and gasps.

"No, no, no," you try to soothe her, wishing you could wrap her in your arms and comfort her that way too. But all you can do is carefully kiss her head, avoiding pressure so that you don't hurt her again from the wound she sustained earlier. "We aren't going to die. I promised you, remember? We're going to get home."

"How?" Colin asks, his eyes widening with hope. You rack your brains for a response to give him—there has to be something, some way you can get these ropes off your hands. That's the first step. All you need is something even slightly sharp—oh!

"Talo," you say in response, turning to the little boy. He looks up at you, wide-eyed, one side of his face illuminated by the flickering flames and the other totally in shadow. "You said there's a pointy rock behind you, right?"

"Yeah," he nods, not making the same connection you did. But then again, you wouldn't expect him to—he probably hasn't been analyzing this situation like you have. He's just a little boy, after all! He's probably terrified. You know you are, at least. And if you, the adult in this situation, are terrified, there is no way the kids are fine. Which is why you have to do whatever you can to get them to safety!

"I think we can use it on these ropes," you drop your voice to a low murmur, even lower than it had been, just to be sure the Bulblin over there doesn't hear you. Shifting, you twist around so that your wrists are angled towards him behind you. "Can you hold it still while I try to cut these off?"

"I—I guess," he says, fumbling to get a firm grasp on the thing without being able to see it. You sneak a furtive glance at the guard, praying he's not too observant. If he sees you fidgeting with something, he's sure to investigate, and then it would all be for nothing! And then you'd be under higher scrutiny. This is your one chance, you can't blow it.

"Colin, Beth," you breathe, because they're on the side of you closer to the guard. Beth raises her head from your shoulder and wipes her eyes on her sleeve, and Colin leans in a little bit. "I need you to make sure we act totally natural and that Talo and I don't get caught with this rock, okay?"

"How do we do that?" Beth asks nervously. "I don't know what normal is anymore..."

Your heart breaks just a little bit.

"Sit so that he can't see," you instruct gently. "And make conversation. Not loud, though, just like we are now. Can you do that for me?"

She trembles a little bit, but Colin nods. "We can. Right, Beth?"

"Right," she says, raising her chin. Then she scoots a little bit back, and you hear them start to talk in low voices of the game they'd been playing at the fountain. You turn your attention back to Talo.

"Got it?" you ask him quietly. When he nods, you fumble around until you find his hands and the rock they hold—it's flinty in texture, and one of the edges is fairly jagged. Perfect. With a bit more difficulty, you hook your wrists and their rope around it, making sure to place no weight on your hands, and then begin to awkwardly rub the rope up and down against the edge. Your arms are going to cramp if you keep this up, but you are almost there—

"Fuck!" you hiss, and then immediately blush crimson because you just said that around the children, even though it was because of the sudden burst of pain from the fact that you just scraped the inside of your wrist against the rock and you really hope it isn't bleeding.

"Jade said a bad word," Malo murmurs, and Talo elbows him.

"Shut up," he says. "Don't be stupid right now!"

"Are you okay?" the smaller boy asks, chastened. You nod, giving him a sheepish grin, and then more carefully resume your rope-breaking.

After a painstaking few minutes, it finally snaps. You stiffen and then let out a soft sigh of relief, feeling the blood start flowing to your hands properly again. Then you take the rock from Talo.

"Turn a little bit," you instruct, gently tracing your fingers down his arm until you feel reasonably sure you know where the rope is and where skin isn't. You don't want to hurt him, after all.

A few minutes later, his rope breaks too, and you hush him before he lets out a loud exclamation of relief, telling him instead to free Malo's hands—_gently_, you add quickly. "And be careful. It's sharp, and we don't want them seeing anything. If you need me to do it I can—"

"No, then we'd have to move and it would be suspish—suspicky—suspishus," Malo whispers back at you. You're impressed, a little bit, and you nod.

"You're right," you tell him. "Okay, here. Be gentle and careful now, though," you caution once more. "Don't hurt him!"

"I won't, okay," Talo grumbles, taking the stone from you. He turns to his little brother. You can tell they're struggling a little and you want to offer to help again, but you know that you shouldn't—Malo is right, if you had to rearrange, that would attract the guard's attention.

After you get everyone's ropes cut, you instruct them to wind the ropes back around their wrists—loosely, of course, just enough so that they won't fall off but they still _look _knotted.

"Make sure no one can tell you're actually able to move your hands," you tell them in a hushed whisper. "Right now, surprise is our biggest weapon. So keep this a secret. You can do that, right?"

"Yes," they chorus back at you.

"Good," you murmur. "Now try to get some sleep. I don't think that there's anything else for us to do tonight."

There's some disconsolate whispering, but you're right and they know it, so they settle in against you as a little pile of small, sleepy bodies. You want to wrap your arms around them, but you can't do that, so you just smile down at them sadly instead, wishing that you could tuck them in nice and safe in their own beds back home in Ordona. Then you close your eyes and lean back against the thin and rough tree trunk, thinking.

Your escape has to come near a town or a village that the kids can run and get help in. They can't travel far, not on foot and especially not tired and apparently half-starved, either, so you're going to have to figure something out, and soon. The longer it takes, the worse condition you'll all be in.

You think you are starting to get the barest inkling of an idea, though. It's not an idea you like, but for the kids, you'll do what you have to.

After all, you promised the memory that you locked away earlier that you would protect these children, or you would die trying.

* * *

_AN: Hahahahaaa... oops. What is an update schedule and how does one keep it going?_

_If you keep up with my story Darkness and Dreams, you already have read my complaints about not having time and motivation these days, so I'll spare you that, haha. But yes, bottom line is that I have no idea when updates will come. I will do my best to keep them frequent!_

_And Jaaade. This is a Jade chapter and I looove me some Jade Harley, she's awesome and brilliant and oh boy does she have issues... well. Let me not be premature._

_Thanks for reading, everyone! And thanks for reviewing, to those of you who do! You make my day better c:_


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